Thursday, June 17, 2010

That's low

Posted
on Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 10:40 AM

Construction companies put up electronic reader boards in construction zones to warn motorists about slowdowns, lane restrictions, workers on the road, etc. These things run on generators, but when they run out of generator juice at night, they switch to batteries.

At least they did, at two construction sites on the North Spokane Corridor, until thieves made off with the batteries overnight on Tuesday. A dozen batteries were pilfered from reader boards at Hastings Road and Dartford Road, costing the construction company $1,200 and leaving motorists in the dark.

Spokane County Sheriff spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan speculates that the batteries were pinched in order to recycle the lead inside.